… it just has to sound plausible

Top 48 Films Based On A Book

Saw this on Mark Charan Newton‘s blog. No one tags me on these meme things, but I’m going to do it anyway. So there.

Below is a list of the top grossing 48 films based on science fiction novels. Apparently, the list is from Box Office Mojo, and it looks distinctly dodgy – at least one isn’t from a novel, and several are obscure straight-to-video films. And there are a lot of not very good ones there, too.

1. Jurassic Park2. War of the Worlds – seen all three versions, in fact.3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park4. I, Robot5. Contact6. Congo7. Cocoon – nope, not based on a novel.8. The Stepford Wives – seen both versions.9. The Time Machine – seen both versions.10. Starship Troopers – book bad, film good.11. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy12. K-PAX13. 201014. The Running Man15. Sphere16. The Mothman Prophecies17. Dreamcatcher18. Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)19. Dune – new film adaptation in production!20. The Island of Dr. Moreau21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers22. The Iron Giant (The Iron Man)23. Battlefield Earth – to my eternal shame, I have read the book. And it’s a toss-up which is worse, the book or the film.24. The Incredible Shrinking Woman25. Fire in the Sky – not novels, then: this is “based on a true story”. About a UFO abduction. Ah, so it is science fiction.26. Altered States27. Timeline28. The Postman29. Freejack (Immortality, Inc.)30. Solaris – seen both. The Tarkovsky version is vastly superior. Lem apparently hated it.31. Memoirs of an Invisible Man32. The Thing (Who Goes There?) – seen both versions.33. The Thirteenth Floor34. Lifeforce (Space Vampires)35. Deadly Friend – never even heard of this, looks like a straight-to-video.36. The Puppet Masters37. 198438. A Scanner Darkly39. Creator – never heard of this one, either. These are supposed to be the 48 top grossing sf films?40. Monkey Shines41. Solo (Weapon)42. The Handmaid’s Tale – I have the book, not read it yet though.43. Communion44. Carnosaur45. From Beyond – apparently based on something by HP Lovecraft.46. Nightflyers – another straight-to-video, although it seems the novel was by George RR Martin.47. Watchers48. Body Snatchers